Systems and methods for operating a media transmission network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for operating a media transmission network. The system includes at least one destination device for receiving a plurality of media streams from a plurality of source devices. The system further includes a controller that is configured to, for each media stream of the plurality of media streams: determine a media property adjustment for the media stream based at least on the media stream; identify a source device from the plurality of source devices associated with generating the media stream; determine at least one device setting for the identified source device to apply the media property adjustment to the media stream; generate a control packet for configuring the identified source device based on the at least one device setting, the control packet including the at least one device setting; and transmit the control packet to the identified source device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/355,228 filed on Jun. 23, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/833,775 filed on Mar. 30, 2020 (nowissued U.S. Pat. No. 11,075,971), which claims the benefit U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/829,336 filed on Apr. 4, 2019, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The described embodiments relate to operating a media transmissionnetwork, and in particular to configuring source devices that generateand transmit media streams.

BACKGROUND

Media transmission networks can route media streams from various sourcedevices to various downstream destination devices. Media streams cancontain video, audio, or metadata content. The metadata is oftenreferred to as vertical ancillary data (VANC) or horizontal ancillarydata (HANC). In separate elementary essence transmission systems, eachof the streams is typically a separate stream, in the sense that theinformation for one stream is not embedded in another stream. This is incontrast to SDI transmission, in which audio and ancillary data isembedded in non-visible portions of a video signal.

Source devices can have various settings that can be configured tocontrol characteristics of the media streams that they generate. Forexample, a camera can have white balance, brightness, contrast, andother settings that affect the corresponding video stream. Similarly, amicrophone can have equalization or tone settings that affect thecorresponding audio stream. When media streams are received at adownstream device, the media streams may be inconsistent in theircontent. For example, the color balance of video streams may differ sothat the same item may be shown in different colors in different videostreams. Similarly, audio streams may differ in that the same sound mayhave different equalization or tone in the different audio streams.Accordingly, it may be desirable to modify one or more media streams sothat they are consistent in their content.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, some embodiments provide a system for operating a mediatransmission network. The system includes at least one destinationdevice and a controller. The at least one destination device can receivea plurality of media streams from a plurality of source devices. Thecontroller is configured to, for each media stream of the plurality ofmedia streams: determine a media property adjustment for the mediastream based at least on the media stream; identify a source device fromthe plurality of source devices associated with generating the mediastream; determine at least one device setting for the identified sourcedevice to apply the media property adjustment to the media stream;generate a control packet for configuring the identified source devicebased on the at least one device setting, the control packet includingthe at least one device setting; and transmit the control packet to theidentified source device.

In some embodiments, for each media stream of the plurality of mediastreams, the identified source device is configured to: receive thecontrol packet; and configure the identified source device based on theat least one device setting to apply the media property adjustment tothe media stream.

In some embodiments, determining the media property adjustment includes:determining a media property of the media stream; determining a mediaproperty of a second media stream; and determining the media propertyadjustment based on the media property of the media stream and the mediaproperty of the second media stream.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment adjusts the mediaproperty of the media stream to be consistent with the media property ofthe second media stream.

In some embodiments, determining the media property adjustment isfurther based on the at least one destination device.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment includes at least oneof: color balance, brightness, contrast, resolution, frame rate, noisereduction, artifact removal, and image enhancement.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment includes at least oneof: volume, sampling rate, equalization, balance, tone, noise reduction,and audio enhancement.

In some embodiments, the plurality of source devices includes at leastone intermediate processing device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of source devices includes at leastone of: a video source device, an audio source device, and a metadatasource device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of media streams includes at leastone of: a video stream, an audio stream, and a metadata stream.

In one aspect, some embodiments provide a method for operating a mediatransmission network. The method involves receiving, at at least onedestination device, a plurality of media streams from a plurality ofsource devices. The method further involves, for each media stream ofthe plurality of media streams: determining, at a controller, a mediaproperty adjustment for the media stream based at least on the mediastream; identifying, at the controller, a source device from theplurality of source devices associated with generating the media stream;determining, at the controller, at least one device setting for theidentified source device to apply the media property adjustment to themedia stream; generating, at the controller, a control packet forconfiguring the identified source device based on the at least onedevice setting, the control packet including the at least one devicesetting; and transmitting, at the controller, the control packet to theidentified source device.

In some embodiments, the method further involves, for each media streamof the plurality of media streams: receiving, at the identified sourcedevice, the control packet; and configuring the identified source devicebased on the at least one device setting to apply the media propertyadjustment to the media stream.

In some embodiments, determining the media property adjustment involves:determining, at the controller, a media property of the media stream;determining, at the controller, a media property of a second mediastream; and determining, at the controller, the media propertyadjustment based on the media property of the media stream and the mediaproperty of the second media stream.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment adjusts the mediaproperty of the media stream to be consistent with the media property ofthe second media stream.

In some embodiments, determining the media property adjustment isfurther based on the at least one destination device.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment includes at least oneof: color balance, brightness, contrast, resolution, frame rate, noisereduction, artifact removal, and image enhancement.

In some embodiments, the media property adjustment includes at least oneof: volume, sampling rate, equalization, balance, tone, noise reduction,and audio enhancement.

In some embodiments, the plurality of source devices includes at leastone intermediate processing device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of source devices includes at leastone of: a video source device, an audio source device, and a metadatasource device.

In some embodiments, the plurality of media streams includes at leastone of: a video stream, an audio stream, and a metadata stream.

In one aspect, some embodiments provide a system for operating a mediatransmission network. The system includes a plurality of source devices,at least one destination device, and a controller. The plurality ofsource devices can generate and transmit a plurality of media streams.The at least one destination device can receive the plurality of mediastreams from the plurality of source devices. The controller isconfigured to, for each media stream of the plurality of media streams:determine a media property adjustment for the media stream based atleast on the media stream; identify a source device from the pluralityof source devices associated with generating the media stream; determineat least one device setting for the identified source device to applythe media property adjustment to the media stream; generate a controlpacket for configuring the identified source device based on the atleast one device setting, the control packet including the at least onedevice setting; and transmit the control packet to the identified sourcedevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for operating a media transmissionnetwork, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a system for operating a media transmissionnetwork, in accordance with at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system for operating a media transmissionnetwork, in accordance with at least one embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for operating a media transmissionnetwork, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

The drawings, described below, are provided for purposes ofillustration, and not of limitation, of the aspects and features ofvarious examples of embodiments described herein. For simplicity andclarity of illustration, elements shown in the drawings have notnecessarily been drawn to scale. The dimensions of some of the elementsmay be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. It will beappreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, whereconsidered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among thedrawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements or steps.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

It will be appreciated that numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the example embodimentsdescribed herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not toobscure the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, this descriptionand the drawings are not to be considered as limiting the scope of theembodiments described herein in any way, but rather as merely describingthe implementation of the various embodiments described herein.

It should be noted that terms of degree such as “substantially”, “about”and “approximately” when used herein mean a reasonable amount ofdeviation of the modified term such that the end result is notsignificantly changed. These terms of degree should be construed asincluding a deviation of the modified term if this deviation would notnegate the meaning of the term it modifies.

In addition, as used herein, the wording “and/or” is intended torepresent an inclusive-or. That is, “X and/or Y” is intended to mean Xor Y or both, for example. As a further example, “X, Y, and/or Z” isintended to mean X or Y or Z or any combination thereof.

It should be noted that the term “coupled” used herein indicates thattwo elements can be directly coupled to one another or coupled to oneanother through one or more intermediate elements.

The embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may beimplemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. Theseembodiments may be implemented in computer programs executing onprogrammable computers, each computer including at least one processor,a data storage system (including volatile memory or non-volatile memoryor other data storage elements or a combination thereof), and at leastone communication interface. For example and without limitation, theprogrammable computers may be a server, network appliance, embeddeddevice, computer expansion module, a personal computer, laptop, personaldata assistant, cellular telephone, smart-phone device, tablet computer,a wireless device or any other computing device capable of beingconfigured to carry out the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, the communication interface may be a networkcommunication interface. In embodiments in which elements are combined,the communication interface may be a software communication interface,such as those for inter-process communication (IPC). In still otherembodiments, there may be a combination of communication interfacesimplemented as hardware, software, and combination thereof.

Program code may be applied to input data to perform the functionsdescribed herein and to generate output information. The outputinformation is applied to one or more output devices, in known fashion.

Each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or objectoriented programming and/or scripting language, or both, to communicatewith a computer system. However, the programs may be implemented inassembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language maybe a compiled or interpreted language. Each such computer program may bestored on a storage media or a device (e.g. ROM, magnetic disk, opticaldisc) readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer,for configuring and operating the computer when the storage media ordevice is read by the computer to perform the procedures describedherein. Embodiments of the system may also be considered to beimplemented as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,configured with a computer program, where the storage medium soconfigured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefinedmanner to perform the functions described herein.

Furthermore, the system, processes and methods of the describedembodiments are capable of being distributed in a computer programproduct comprising a computer readable medium that bears computer usableinstructions for one or more processors. The medium may be provided invarious forms, including one or more diskettes, compact disks, tapes,chips, wireline transmissions, satellite transmissions, internettransmission or downloadings, magnetic and electronic storage media,digital and analog signals, and the like. The computer useableinstructions may also be in various forms, including compiled andnon-compiled code.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1 , which illustrates a system 100 foroperating a media transmission network, in accordance with at least oneembodiment. System 100 includes source device 102, network 108,destination device 104, and controller 106. Source device 102,destination device 104, and controller 106 are connected via network108. Various data can be transmitted between source device 102,destination device 104, and/or controller 106, across network 108. Itwill be appreciated that although only one source device 102 and onedestination device 104 are shown, there may be any number of source anddestination devices, as will be discussed with in further detail withregard to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

Source device 102 can generate media streams 110 and transmit mediastreams 110 to destination device 104, through network 108. Each streamof media streams 110 can include video, audio, or metadata content. Insome embodiments, each stream includes only one type of content. Inother embodiments, each stream can include more than one type ofcontent. A media stream that includes video, audio, or metadata may bereferred to as a video stream, audio stream, or metadata stream,respectively. In some embodiments, each stream of media streams 110 ispacketized. It will be appreciated that although only three mediastreams 110 are shown, there can be any number of media streams 110.

In some cases, source device 102 generates media content for mediastreams 110. For example, source device 102 may be a camera, microphone,or other device for generating video, audio, or metadata content. Insuch cases, source device 102 can generate media streams 110 from themedia content generated by source device 102. In other cases, sourcedevice 102 can receive media content from one or more upstream devices(not shown). That is, source device 102 can generate media streams 110using media content received from another device. In some cases, sourcedevice 102 may be an intermediate processing device. For example, sourcedevice 102 can receive a media stream and process the content of thatmedia stream to generate a processed media stream. Source devices 102will be discussed in further detail with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

Destination device 104 can receive media streams 110 from source device102, through network 108. In some cases, destination device 104 canpresent one or more of media streams 110. For example, destinationdevice 104 may include a monitor for displaying one or more videostreams, or a speaker for playing one or more audio streams. In somecases, destination device 104 can be a part of a broadcast productionsystem. In some cases, destination device 104 can transmit one or moreof media streams 110 to one or more downstream devices (not shown). Insome cases, destination device 104 may process one or more streamsbefore presenting or transmitting the streams. In some cases,destination device 104 may capture one or more of media streams 110 to astorage device (not shown).

Controller 106 can analyze the content of one or more of media streams110 received by destination device 104. For example, for a video stream,controller 106 may analyze the color balance, brightness, contrast,resolution, frame rate, or other properties of the video content.Similarly, for an audio stream, controller 104 may analyze the volume,sampling rate, equalization, balance, tone, or other properties of theaudio content. Likewise, for a metadata stream, controller 104 mayanalyze various properties of the metadata content, such as the formator structure.

Controller 106 can be any suitable processors, controllers, digitalsignal processors, graphics processing units, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), and/or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs) that can provide sufficient processing power depending on theconfiguration, purposes and requirements of the system 100. In someembodiments, controller 106 can include more than one processor witheach processor being configured to perform different dedicated tasks. Insome embodiments, controller 106 may be located at destination device104. In some cases, controller 106 may be integrated as part ofdestination device 104.

Controller 106 can access the content of one or more of media streams110 in various ways. In some cases, source device 102 can transmit mediastreams 110 to controller 106, in addition to destination device 104,through network 108. In some cases, destination device 104, afterreceiving media streams 110, can transmit the received media streams tocontroller 106 through network 108. In some cases, source device 102 ordestination device 104 may only transmit a portion of media streams 110necessary for controller 106 to perform its analysis. In some cases,some of the analysis may be performed by destination device 104 andtransmitted to controller 106. In some cases, these transmissions may besent over a different network from network 108. For example, sourcedevice 102, controller 106, and/or destination device 104 may becommunicatively coupled by one or more other connections (not shown).

Controller 106 can determine media content adjustments based on analysesof media streams 110. That is, controller 106 can determine a mediaproperty adjustment for a media stream based at least on the mediastream. The media content adjustments may be adjustments or correctionsto the media content properties analyzed by controller 106. For example,for a video stream, controller 106 may determine a correction for thecolor balance, brightness, contrast, resolution, frame rate, or anothervideo property. Similarly, for an audio stream, the media propertyadjustment may be the volume, sampling rate, equalization, balance,tone, or another audio property. Likewise, for a metadata stream, thecorrection may be with respect to the format, structure, or othermetadata property. The media content adjustment can be an increase ordecrease, or any other change or modification to the content of a mediastream. In some cases, a media content adjustment may be a filteringproperty. For example, for a video stream, the media property adjustmentmay be noise reduction, artifact removal, or image enhancement.Similarly, for an audio stream, the media property adjustment may benoise reduction, artifact removal, or image enhancement.

Controller 106 can determine the media content adjustments in variousways. In some cases, the media content adjustment is determined based ona predetermined reference value. In some cases, the predeterminedreference value may be based on a requirement for destination device 104or a further downstream device (not shown). For example, for a videostream, destination device 104 may require a minimum brightness orcontrast. Accordingly, controller 106 can determine that the brightnessor contrast of the video content of the stream should be increased, inorder to satisfy the requirements of destination device 104. Similarly,for an audio stream, destination device 104 may require a maximum volumelevel, and controller 106 may determine that volume level of the audiocontent should be decreased. Likewise, for a metadata stream,destination device may require a specific format, and controller 106 maydetermine that reformatting the metadata content is required.

Controller 106 can determine one or more device settings for sourcedevice 102 that apply the media property adjustments to the respectivemedia streams. For example, if source device 102 is a camera and themedia property adjustment is a brightness adjustment, the device settingmay be an aperture setting. Adjusting the aperture setting of the cameramay adjust the brightness in the video stream content produced by thecamera. Similarly, if source device 102 is a microphone and the mediaproperty adjustment is a volume adjustment, the device setting may be again setting. Modifying the gain setting of the microphone may adjustthe volume of the audio stream content generated by the microphone.Likewise, if source device 102 generates metadata, the media propertyadjustment may be a format setting that modifies the structure of themetadata.

Controller 106 can generate control packets 112 for controlling sourcedevice 102. Control packets 112 can include one or more of the devicesettings determined by controller 106. Control packets 112, whenreceived by source device 102, can configure source device 102 based onthe device settings, and thus apply the media property adjustments tothe respective media streams. It will be appreciated that controlpackets 112 can be any data structure or collection of the various dataitems, regardless of whether it is assembled or transmitted in anyparticular structure. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that althoughonly three control packets 112 are shown, there can be any number ofcontrol packets 112.

Controller 106 can transmit control packets 112 to source device 102through network 108. Source device 102 can receive control packets 112through network 108. In some embodiments, control packets 112 may betransmitted through a separate network (not shown) from media streams110. When control packets 112 are received by source device 102, sourcedevice 102 is configured based on the device settings to apply the mediaproperty adjustments to the respective media streams. Since mediastreams 110 can be adjusted as they are generated by source device 102,media streams 110 may be usable at destination device 104 withoutfurther processing.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 , shown therein is a system 200 foroperating a media transmission network, in accordance with at least oneembodiment. Similar to system 100 of FIG. 1 , system 200 includescontroller 206 and network 208. However, in contrast to system 100,which includes only one source device 102 and one destination device104, system 200 includes a plurality of source devices 202 and aplurality of destination devices 204.

Source devices 202 can perform similar functions as source device 102.Source devices 202 include video source devices 202 v, audio sourcedevices 202 m, and other source devices 202 i. In some cases, the videosource devices 202 v may be cameras for generating video content, andthe audio source devices 202 m may be microphones for generating audiocontent. In some cases, video source devices and/or audio source devices220 m may also generate metadata content. Each of the plurality ofsource devices 202 can generate media streams 210 and transmit mediastreams 210 to any of destination devices 204, through network 208.Although only three video source devices 202 v, audio source devices 202m, and other source devices 202 i are shown, it will be appreciatedthere can be any number of any type of source devices 202 are possible.

Destination devices 204 can perform similar functions as destinationdevice 104. Each of the plurality of destination devices 204 can receivemedia streams 210 from any of source devices 202, through network 208.Destination devices 204 can process, output or further transmit thereceived media streams. Although only three destination deices 204 areshown, it will be appreciated that there can be any number ofdestination devices 204.

In some cases, system 200 can be implemented as part of a broadcastproduction system. For example, video source devices 202 v may generatevarious video streams from different viewpoints at a sporting venueduring a game. In some cases, video source devices 202 v may alsogenerate various audio streams. Audio source devices 220 m may also beplaced throughout the venue to generate other audio streams. The variousmedia streams 210 can be transmitted to destination devices 204, throughnetwork 208, where one or more of the streams can be outputted andreviewed by an operator. The operator can select one or more mediastreams to process or transmit to downstream devices. In some cases,review and selection may be automatic and may not require an operator.

Controller 206 can perform similar functions as controller 106. Forexample, controller 206 can determine one or more media contentadjustments for media streams 210, determine one or more device settingsfor source devices 202, and generate and transmit control packets 212,in a similar fashion as controller 106. In some embodiments, controller206 may be located at one or more of destination devices 204. In somecases, controller 206 may be integrated as part of one or more ofdestination devices 204.

However, in contrast to controller 106, controller 206 can identify thesource device that is associated with generating the media stream for arespective media content adjustment. That is, controller 206 canidentify the particular source device responsible for generating aparticular media stream. Controller 206 can determine one or more mediaproperty adjustments for that media stream and one or more devicesettings for the identified source device. Controller 206 can thentransmit a control packet 212 to the identified device to apply thedevice setting to the identified device and apply the media propertyadjustment to the media stream.

In some cases, controller 206 can determine a media property adjustmentfor one media stream in relation to another media stream. For example,controller 206 can determine a media property of a first media stream,determine a media property of a second media stream, and determine themedia property adjustment based on the media properties of the first andsecond media streams. In some cases, the media property adjustment mayadjust the media property of the first media stream to be consistentwith the media property of the second stream.

For example, two or more of media streams 210 may be inconsistent withregard to their respective content. For video streams, the colourbalance of the streams may differ so that the same item is shown indifferent colours. Audio streams may differ in that the same sound mayhave different equalization or tone. Metadata streams may differ in thatthe same metadata is formatted in different structures. Controller 206can determine media property adjustments to correct one or more streamsso that they are consistent with regard to the other respective streams.Since media streams 210 can be adjusted as they are generated by sourcedevices 202, media streams 210 may be usable at destination devices 204without further processing.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 , shown therein is a system 300 foroperating a media transmission network, in accordance with at least oneembodiment. Similar to system 200 of FIG. 2 , system 300 includes sourcedevices 302, destination devices 304, controller 306 and network 308.However, in contrast to system 200, source devices 302 further include aplurality of intermediate processing devices 302 p.

Similar to system 200, each of source devices 302 can generate andtransmit media streams 310 to any of destination devices 304 acrossnetwork 308. However, in contrast to system 200, some of source devices302 can also transmit media streams 310 to other of source devices 302.For example, audio source devices 302 m, video source devices 302 v, andother source devices 302 i can transmit media streams 310 tointermediate processor devices 302 p.

Intermediate processing devices 302 p are located within network 308.Each intermediate processing device 302 p can receive media streams 310from any of audio source devices 302 m, video source devices 302 v, orother source devices 302 i. Intermediate processing devices 302 p canprocess media streams 310 to produce processed media streams 310′.Intermediate processing devices 302 p can transmit any of processedmedia streams 310′ to any of destination devices 304. It will beappreciated that although only three intermediate processors 302 p areshown, there can be any number of intermediate processors 302 p. It willbe appreciated that although only three media streams 310 and threeprocessed media streams 310′ are shown, there can be any number of mediastreams 310 and/or media streams 310′.

Intermediate processors 302 p can process media streams 310 in variousways to produce processed media streams 310′. For example, for a videostream, intermediate processors 302 p may crop the video content toreduce the resolution of the video content. Similarly, for an audiostream, intermediate processors 302 p may increase or decrease thevolume of the audio content. Likewise, for a metadata stream,intermediate processors 302 p may reformat or restructure the metadatacontent.

Similar to destination devices 204, destination devices 304 can receivemedia streams 310 from source devices 302, through network 308. However,destination devices 304 can also receive processed media streams 310′from intermediate processing devices 302 p. Destination devices 304 canoutput, process, or further transmit media streams 310 or processedmedia streams 310′.

Controller 306 can perform similar functions as controller 206. Forexample, controller 306 can, for each stream of media streams 310 orprocessed media streamed 310′, identify a source device associated withgenerating that stream, determine media property adjustments for thatmedia stream and device settings for the identified device to apply themedia property adjustments. Controller 306 can further transmit controlpackets 312 to the identified devices to apply the device settings andapply the media property adjustments to the respective media streams. Insome embodiments, controller 306 may be located at one or more ofdestination devices 304. In some cases, controller 306 may be integratedas part of one or more of destination devices 304.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4 , shown therein is a method 400 foroperating a media transmission network, in accordance with at least oneembodiment. For example, method 400 may be implemented using systems100, 200, 300 of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 . Method 400 begins with receiving,at at least one destination device, a plurality of media streams from aplurality of source devices at 402. For example, media streams 110, 210,310 from source devices 102, 202, 302 may be received by destinationdevices 104, 204, 304.

At 404, a media property adjustment for a media stream is determinedbased at least on the media stream at a controller. For example,controller 106, 206, 306 may determine a media property adjustment forone of media streams 110, 210, 310.

At 406, a source device from the plurality of source devices associatedwith generating the media stream is identified at the controller. Forexample, controller 106, 206, 306 may identify one of source devices102, 202, 302 associated with generating the particular stream of mediastreams 110, 210, 310.

At 408, at least one device setting for the identified source device isdetermined at the controller. The at least one device setting can applythe media property adjustment to the media stream. For example,controller 106, 206, 306 can determine a device setting for theidentified device of source devices 102, 202, 302.

At 410, a control packet for configuring the identified source devicebased on the at least one device setting is generated at the controller.The control packet includes the at least one device setting. Forexample, controller 106, 206, 306 may generate a control packets 112,212, 312.

At 412, the control packet is transmitted, at the controller, to theidentified source device. For example, controller 106, 206, 306 maytransmit control packets 112, 212, 312 to the identified device ofsource devices 102, 202, 302.

The present invention has been described here by way of example only.Various modification and variations may be made to these exemplaryembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention, which is limited only by the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A system for operating a media transmission networkcomprising: at least one destination device for receiving one or moremedia streams from at least one source device; and a controllerconfigured to: for each media stream of the one or more media streams:determine a media property adjustment for the media stream based on theat least one destination device; identify a source device associatedwith generating the media stream; determine at least one device settingfor the identified source device to apply the media property adjustmentto the media stream; generate a control packet for configuring theidentified source device based on the at least one device setting, thecontrol packet including the at least one device setting; and transmitthe control packet to the identified source device.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein for each media stream, the identified source device isconfigured to: receive the control packet; and configure the identifiedsource device based on the at least one device setting to apply themedia property adjustment to subsequent media streams transmitted by theidentified source device.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein determiningthe media property adjustment comprises: determining a media property ofthe media stream; determining a media property of at least one othermedia stream; and determining the media property adjustment based on themedia property of the media stream and the media property of the atleast one other media stream.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein themedia property adjustment adjusts the media property of the media streamto be consistent with the media property of the at least one other mediastream.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the media propertyadjustment is based on a corresponding predetermined reference valueassociated with the at least one destination device.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the media property adjustment includes a parameterselected from the group consisting of color balance, brightness,contrast, resolution, frame rate, noise reduction, artifact removal, andimage enhancement.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the media propertyadjustment includes a parameter selected from the group consisting ofvolume, sampling rate, equalization, balance, tone, noise reduction, andaudio enhancement.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system furthercomprises at least one intermediate processing device between the atleast one source device and the controller.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one source device includes at least one of: a videosource device, an audio source device, or a metadata source device. 10.The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more media streams includes amedia stream selected from the group consisting of a video stream, anaudio stream, and a metadata stream.
 11. A method for operating a mediatransmission network comprising: receiving, by at least one destinationdevice, one or more media streams transmitted from at least one sourcedevice; for each media stream: determining, at a controller, a mediaproperty adjustment for the media stream based on the at least onedestination device; identifying, at the controller, a source deviceassociated with generating the media stream; determining, at thecontroller, at least one device setting for the identified source deviceto apply the media property adjustment to the media stream; generating,at the controller, a control packet for configuring the identifiedsource device based on the at least one device setting, the controlpacket including the at least one device setting; and transmitting, atthe controller, the control packet to the identified source device. 12.The method of claim 11, further comprising: for each media stream:receiving, at the identified source device, the control packet; andconfiguring the identified source device based on the at least onedevice setting to apply the media property adjustment to subsequentmedia streams transmitted by the identified source device.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein determining the media property adjustmentcomprises: determining, at the controller, a media property of the mediastream; determining, at the controller, a media property of at least oneother media stream; and determining, at the controller, the mediaproperty adjustment based on the media property of the media stream andthe media property of the at least one other media stream.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the media property adjustment adjusts themedia property of the media stream to be consistent with the mediaproperty of the at least one other media stream.
 15. The method of claim11, wherein determining the media property adjustment is based on acorresponding predetermined reference value associated with at least onedestination device.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the mediaproperty adjustment includes a parameter selected from the groupconsisting of color balance, brightness, contrast, resolution, framerate, noise reduction, artifact removal, and image enhancement.
 17. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the media property adjustment includes aparameter selected from the group consisting of volume, sampling rate,equalization, balance, tone, noise reduction, and audio enhancement. 18.The method of claim 11, further comprising providing at least oneintermediate processing device to receive at least one of the one ormore media streams from the at least one source device beforetransmitting the corresponding at least one media stream to thecontroller.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one sourcedevice includes at least one of: video source device, an audio sourcedevice, or a metadata source device.
 20. The method of claim 11, whereinthe one or more media streams includes a media stream selected from thegroup consisting of a video stream, an audio stream, and a metadatastream.